Review: Demon In Me – Here’s Your Way Out

In this world where a new band seems to pop up every day, you come to find that there are a lot of diamonds in the rough. You want the bands that you dedicate your time to, to show that they are worth following in the future. You want them to convey the emotion and drive that they bring to the stage in the studio. You want them to display their potential from the get-go, giving you cause to pause and tell yourself “Wow, I’m really glad I gave this band a chance!” As individuals who review music, you can imagine the amount of material that we get submitted on a daily/weekly basis. Some is good, some is great… still others really need work. One band that blew me away from the first time I heard them, is CA’s Demon In Me. Signed to Standby Records, this band sounds like the product of a love child between Brand New, A Day to Remember and Thrice. The dedication in this band, whether it be to their fans or any aspect of their daily band life, is almost unmatched in today’s scene. Their debut album, Here’s Your Way Out, is one of the most refreshing musical masterpieces I’ve heard in recent years.

Written almost entirely by vocalist/brainchild Kylle Reece, due mainly to inconsistencies in the band’s line-up, Here’s Your Way Out shows the level of musicianship you hope to hear in a band’s debut. He searched, not for the perfect musicians, but for the right ones… the ones that he knew would complete the line-up and make it solid enough to bring fully to life. These 11 tracks will bring the listener to their knees with the level of emotion put into them. It’s an emotional roller-coaster from the opening, acoustic melody of “Cold Sweat,” which might begin to remind the listener of Foil-era Blue October, before kicking into full gear. You’ll be taken into the head of someone who has endured broken hearts, deception, watching someone they love fall victim to substance/alcohol abuse and vowing to themselves never to fall prey (“LFLS”). This album is the stuff of nightmares, lyrically, but it’s all designed to show you that music can be the ultimate healing mechanism. Atmospheric, painfully beautiful and emotionally explosive, this album has tracks that will get stuck in your head, while bringing tears to your eyes. It’s clear, by the way that these tracks came out, that Reece’s vision was fully realized when this band became whole.

If you listen to no other album this year, make the choice to check out Here’s Your Way Out. You won’t regret it. The album was released this past Friday via Standby Records and Demon In Me is currently on their CD release tour with their friends in The Body Rampant, which is set to end on September 22nd, with some hometown shows to follow. Check out the links below to learn more about the band, purchase your copy of the album and view the video for “Enough’s Enough.”